Dennis Powell (boxer)

Dennis Powell
Powell (right) fighting Mel Brown in 1950
Statistics
Rated at	Light middleweight
Nationality	Welsh
Born	(1924-12-12)12 December 1924 Llanddewi Skirrid, Wales
Died	27 May 1993(1993-05-27) (aged 68) Llanddewi Skirrid, Wales
Boxing record
Total fights	68
Wins	42
Wins by KO	18
Losses	22
Draws	4
No contests	0

Dennis Powell (12 December 1924 - 27 May 1993) was a Welsh boxer who fought between 1946 and 1954. Powell became Welsh area champion in both light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions in 1949, holding onto the heavyweight title until beaten by Tommy Farr in 1951. He remained Welsh light heavyweight champion throughout his career and in 1953 he challenged for the British light heavyweight title vacated by Randolph Turpin, taking the belt after defeating George Walker.

Powell began fighting professionally in the mid-1940s and his first recorded fight was against Tommy Smythe of Ireland on 17 December 1946. During 1947 he fought on four occasions, mainly in the Midlands and Liverpool area of England, despite remaining based in the village of Four Crosses in Wales. His early career was fairly successful, finishing 1947 without loss. He continued this success into 1948 with a victory over Jack 'Red' O'Hara on 8 January, but then lost to Jeff Morris of Mansfield who, despite having never won a fight in ten attempts, put Powell down ten times in a four-round bout. Powell fared no better in his next two matches, losing both on points, before knocking out Danny O'Brien in Chester in February.

On 16 February 1948 Powell faced Gerry McDermott, who later that year would become Irish heavyweight champion. Powell failed to last a round, being counted out. His form continued to fluctuate throughout the rest of the year, failing to string two wins together until he defeated Allan Cooke and Len Bennett in December. Those two victories were the start of the most successful period of Powell's professional career, with a run of 13 wins. This period also saw Powell fighting more in his home country of Wales, beating future Welsh middleweight champion Tommy Davies on his way to challenging Jack Farr for the Wales light heavyweight title. Farr had held the Welsh title since April 1948, and the two men met at Newtown in Powys on 9 July 1949. Despite giving away ten and a half pounds to his opponent, Powell stopped Farr in the first round to take the title. Within a month Powell took a second Welsh title when he challenged George James for the Welsh heavyweight belt. His stoppage of James in the second round gave him the championship title and ended James' career. In November 1949, Powell made his only defense of his Welsh light heavyweight title, beating Swansea based fighter Doug Richards. He ended the year with a points decision win over Australian Jackie Marr at the Royal Albert Hall in London, an undercard fight to the British bantamweight contest between Teddy Gardner and Danny O'Sullivan.